Twitter Decides VP Debate Winner

Joe Biden went into last night’s debate knowing he had to make up for his running mate’s faltering performance in the first 2012 Presidential Debate. Obama went into the debates with a hefty nine-point lead over Governor Romney, but with Obama’s passive performance, the race became dead even.

Just four years earlier the world saw a different Obama, one that attacked his opponent and inspired the American people. During the debate, that man was nowhere to be found. The president spent the majority of his time looking down at his podium while Romney fed on him like a wild animal.

Biden also excelled during the 2008 debates and, unlike his running mate, came out swinging. He repeatedly took shots at the hypocrisy in the Romney/Ryan campaign while still finding time to point out his opponents’ lack of use of statistics when explaining how their policies would work.

Ryan also energized his base with a decent performance; though, it was nowhere near the victory that Romney took home the week prior. Before the debate, pundits from all sides agreed that Biden would attack Ryan’s lack of proficiency on foreign policy, a subject Biden is exceptionally well-versed in. However, much to the Obama camp’s dismay, Ryan actually performed very well during the foreign policy section.

After the debate, I wanted to see the world’s reaction. Polls didn’t seem to have a clear consensus on the debate other than claiming it was strong for both camps, much better than the first round between the presidential candidates, and most on the left side felt that moderator Martha Raddatz, an ABC reporter, was a strong improvement over the previous moderator, PBS’s Jim Lehrer. I took to Twitter to see the public’s reaction.

Yo, Jim Lehrer, This Is What Killing It Looks Like: the Martha Raddatz Story

Tallying up a winner in what appeared to be a good back-and-forth debate seems to be a near impossible task, but it’s clear that this debate was an improvement from the first, and that these debates will have a huge impact on the presidential race.